About the Book
Getting students away from spouting opinions about highly-charged partisan issues, Debating Reform, Fourth Edition looks at key questions about reforming political institutions, with contributed pieces written by top scholars specifically for the volume. Each pro or con essay considers a concrete proposal for reforming the political system. By focusing on institutions, rather than liberal or conservative public policies, students tend to leave behind ideology and grapple with claims and evidence to draw their own conclusions and build their own arguments. Students will explore how institutions work in their American government text, but this reader helps them to understand how they can be made to work better.
Table of Contents:
Preface
1. Resolved, Article V should be revised to make it easier to amend the Constitution and to call a constitutional convention
Pro: - Sanford Levinson
Con: - David E. Kyvig
2. Resolved, Impeachment Should Be Normalized
Pro: - Gene Healy
Con: - Keith E. Whittington
3. Resolved, Marijuana Policy Should Be Set by the States, not the Federal Government
Pro: - Sam Kamin
Con: - Robert A. Mikos
4. Resolved, States Should Enact Voter ID Laws and Reduce Early Voting
Pro: - Michael Nelson
Con: - Keith Gunnar Bentele and Erin O’Brien
5. Resolved, Congress Should Bring Back the Fairness Doctrine
Pro: - Marjorie Randon Hershey
Con: - James Gattuso
6. Resolved, The United States Should Adopt a National Initiative and Referendum
Pro: - Todd Donovan
Con: - Richard J. Ellis
7. Resolved, the United States should adopt compulsory voting
Pro: - Martin P. Wattenberg
Con: - Jason Brennan
8. Resolved, Congress should remove the caps on the amount that individuals can contribute to candidates for federal office
Pro: - John Samples
Con: - Richard Briffault
9. Resolved, States Should Require Open Primaries
Pro: - Jason Altmire
Con: - Nicholas R. Seabrook
10. Resolved, Congress Should Bring Back Earmarks
Pro: - Scott A. Frisch and Sean Q. Kelly
Con: - Jeffrey Lazarus
11. Resolved, proportional representation should be adopted for U.S. House Elections
Pro: - Douglas J. Amy
Con: - Brendan J. Doherty
12. Resolved, the redistricting process should be nonpartisan
Pro: - Ruth Greenwood
Con: - Justin Buchler
13. Resolved, The Senate Should Represent People, Not States
Pro: - Bruce I. Oppenheimer
Con: - John J. Pitney Jr.
14. Resolved, Senate Rule XXII Should Be Amended so That Legislative Filibusters Can Be Ended by a Majority Vote
Pro: - Steven S. Smith
Con: - Wendy J. Schiller
15. Resolved, The Electoral College Should Be Abolished
Pro: - George C. Edwards III
Con: - Gary L. Gregg II
16. Resolved, The Twenty-Second Amendment Should Be Repealed
Pro: - David A. Crockett
Con: - Michael J. Korzi
17. Resolved, The President Should Be Able to Fire Anyone in the Executive Branch
Pro: - Philip K. Howard
Con: - Marissa Martino Golden
18. Resolved, The Terms of Supreme Court Justices Should Be Limited to Eighteen Years
Pro: - David Karol
Con: - Ward Farnsworth
19. Resolved, Americans Should Receive Four More Years of Free Public Education
Pro: - Robert Samuels
Con: - Neal McCluskey
20. Resolved, National Security Would Be Strengthened by Requiring the Government to Keep Fewer Secrets and Become More Transparent
Pro: - Michael Colaresi
Con: - Stephen F. Knott
Contributors
Chapter 1: Pro: Resolved, Article V should be revised to make it easier to amend the Constitution and to call a constitutional convention - Sanford Levinson
Chapter 1: Con: Resolved, Article V should be revised to make it easier to amend the Constitution and to call a constitutional convention - David Kyvig
Chapter 2: Pro: Resolved, impeachment should be normalized - Gene Healy
Chapter 2: Con: Resolved, impeachment should be normalized - Keith Whittington
Chpater 3: Pro: Resolved, marijuana policy should be set by the states, not the federal government - Sam Kamin
Chapter 3: Con: Resolved, marijuana policy should be set by the states, not the federal government - Robert Mikos
Chapter 4: Pro: Resolved, states should enact voter id laws and reduce early voting - Michael Nelson
Chapter 4: Con: Resolved, states should enact voter id laws and reduce early voting - Keith Bentele, Erin O′Brien
Chapter 5: Pro: Resolved, Congress should enact a new fairness doctrine for the 21st century - Marjorie Hershey
Chapter 5: Con Resolved, Congress should enact a new fairness doctrine for the 21st century - James Gattuso
Chapter 6: Pro: Resolved, the United States should adopt a national initiative and referendum - Todd Donovan
Chapter 6: Con: Resolved, the United States should adopt a national initiative and referendum - Richard Ellis
Chapter 7: Pro: Resolved, the United States should adopt compulsory voting - Martin Wattenberg
Chapter 7: Con: Resolved, the United States should adopt compulsory voting - Jason Brennan
Chapter 8: Pro: Resolved, Congress should remove the caps on the amount that individuals can contribute to candidates for federal office - John Samples
Chpater 8: Con: Resolved, Congress should remove the caps on the amount that individuals can contribute to candidates for federal office - Richard Briffault
Chapter 9: Pro: Resolved, states should require open primaries - Jason Altmire
Chapter 9: Con: Resolved, states should require open primaries - Nicholas Seabrook
Chapter 10: Pro: Resolved,Congress should bring back earmarks - Scott Frisch, Sean Kelly
Chapter 10: Con: Resolved,Congress should bring back earmarks - Jeffrey Lazarus
Chapter 11: Pro: Resolved, proportional representation should be adopted for U.S. House elections - Douglas Amy
Chapter 11: Con: Resolved, proportional representation should be adopted for U.S. House elections - Brendan Doherty
Chapter 12: Pro: Resolved, the redistricting process should be nonpartisan - Ruth Greenwood
Chapter 13: Pro: Resolved, the Senate should represent people not states - Bruce Oppenheimer
Chapter 13: Con: Resolved, the Senate should represent people not states - John Pitney
Chapter 14: Pro: Resolved, Senate Rule XXII should be amended so that filibusters can be ended by a majority vote - Steven Smith
Chapter 14: Con: Resolved, Senate Rule XXII should be amended so that filibusters can be ended by a majority vote - Wendy Schiller
Chapter 15: Pro: Resolved, the electoral college should be abolished - George Edwards
Chapter 15: Con: Resolved, the electoral college should be abolished - Gary Gregg
Chapter 16: Pro: Resolved, the 22nd Amendment should be repealed - David Crockett
Chpater 16: Con: Resolved, the 22nd Amendment should be repealed - Mike Korzi
Chapter 17: Con: Resolved, the president should be able to fire anyone in the executive branch. - Marissa Golden
Chapter 18: Pro: Resolved, the terms of Supreme Court justices should be limited to 18 years - David Karol
Chapter 18: Con: Resolved, the terms of Supreme Court justices should be limited to 18 years - Ward Farnsworth
Chapter 19: Pro: Resolved, Americans should receive four more years of free public education - Robert Samuels
Chapter 19: Con: Resolved, Americans should receive four more years of free public education - Neal McCluskey
Chapter 20: Pro: Resolved, national security would be strengthened by requiring the government to keep fewer secrets and to become more transparent - Michael Colaresi
Chapter 20: Con: Resolved, national security would be strengthened by requiring the government to keep fewer secrets and to become more transparent - Stephen Knott
Chapter 12: Con: Resolved, the redistricting process should be nonpartisan - Justin Buchler
Chapter 17: Pro: Resolved, the president should be able to fire anyone in the executive branch. - Philip Howard
Chapter 1: Resolved, Article V should be revised to make it easier to amend the Constitution and to call a constitutional convention - Sanford Levinson, David Kyvig
Chapter 2: Resolved, impeachment should be normalized - Gene Healy, Keith Whittington
Chapter 3: Resolved, marijuana policy should be set by the states, not the federal government - Sam Kamin, Robert Mikos
Chapter 4: Resolved, states should enact voter id laws and reduce early voting - Michael Nelson, Keith Bentele, Erin O′Brien
Chapter 5: Resolved, Congress should enact a new fairness doctrine for the 21st century - Marjorie Hershey
Chapter 6: Resolved, the United States should adopt a national initiative and referendum - Todd Donovan, Richard Ellis
Chapter 7: Resolved, the United States should adopt compulsory voting - Martin Wattenberg, Jason Brennan
Chapter 8: Resolved, Congress should remove the caps on the amount that individuals can contribute to candidates for federal office - John Samples, Richard Briffault
Chapter 9: Resolved, states should require open primaries - Jason Altmire, Nicholas Seabrook
Chapter 10: Resolved,Congress should bring back earmarks - Scott Frisch, Sean Kelly, Jeffrey Lazarus
Chapter 11: Resolved, proportional representation should be adopted for U.S. House elections - Douglas Amy, Brendan Doherty
Chapter 12: Resolved, the redistricting process should be nonpartisan - Ruth Greenwood, Justin Buchler
Chapter 13: Resolved, the Senate should represent people not states - Bruce Oppenheimer, John Pitney
Chapter 14: Resolved, Senate Rule XXII should be amended so that filibusters can be ended by a majority vote - Steven Smith, Wendy Schiller
Chapter 15: Resolved, the electoral college should be abolished - George Edwards, Gary Gregg
Chapter 16: Resolved, the 22nd Amendment should be repealed - David Crockett, Mike Korzi
Chapter 17: Resolved, the president should be able to fire anyone in the executive branch. - Philip Howard, Marissa Golden
Chapter 18: Resolved, the terms of Supreme Court justices should be limited to 18 years - David Karol, Ward Farnsworth
Chapter 19: Resolved, Americans should receive four more years of free public education - Robert Samuels, Neal McCluskey
Chapter 20: Resolved, national security would be strengthened by requiring the government to keep fewer secrets and to become more transparent - Michael Colaresi, Stephen Knott
About the Author :
Richard J. Ellis is Mark O. Hatfield Professor of Politics at Willamette University. His books include The Development of the American Presidency (2015; 2nd ed.); Debating Reform: Conflicting Perspectives on How to Fix the American Political System (with Michael Nelson, 3nd ed., 2016); Judging the Boy Scouts of America: Gay Rights, Freedom of Association, and the Dale Case (2014); Judging Executive Power: Sixteen Supreme Court Cases That Have Shaped the American Presidency (2009); and Presidential Travel: The Journey from George Washington to George W. Bush (2008). In 2008 he was named the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Oregon Professor of the Year.
Michael Nelson is Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College and a senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. A former editor of the Washington Monthly, his most recent books include Trump’s First Year (2018); The Elections of 2016 (2018); The Evolving Presidency: Landmark Documents (2019); The American Presidency: Origins and Development (with Sidney M. Milkis, 2011); and Governing at Home: The White House and Domestic Policymaking (with Russell B. Riley, 2011). Nelson has contributed to numerous journals, including the Journal of Policy History, Journal of Politics, and Political Science Quarterly. He also has written multiple articles on subjects as varied as baseball, Frank Sinatra, and C. S. Lewis. More than fifty of his articles have been anthologized in works of political science, history, and English composition. His 2014 book, Resilient America: Electing Nixon, Channeling Dissent, and Dividing Government, won the American Political Science Association’s Richard E. Neustadt Award for best book on the presidency published that year; and his 2006 book with John Lyman Mason, How the South Joined the Gambling Nation, won the Southern Political Science Association’s V.O. Key Award.
